POLICIES
Disclaimer
The Gordon College Financial Aid Office reserves the right to review and cancel awards at any time if you fail to meet the requirements of the Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy or because of changes in your financial or academic status, academic program, resident status, enrollment status, etc. All student financial aid awards are contingent on the availability of funds.
Summer Aid Deadlines
Students who plan to first apply for aid in the summer semester of a particular year must transmit their FAFSA in time for it to reach the Federal Processor no later than June 30th of that year. No aid can be awarded if this deadline is missed.
Retroactive Aid
If the semester(s) for which you are requesting aid has ended AND you are no longer enrolled, you will usually not be eligible for a retroactive aid award. If you are in Verification when the semester ends, you MAY be eligible when Verification is complete.
Loans and Enrollment Status
If you receive a student loan, you must maintain at least half time enrollment at all times. Dropping below half time enrollment at any time may result in subsequent loan disbursements being canceled. If you later re-enroll at least half time, you must contact us to confirm your loan status.
Dropping Courses vs. Withdrawing
Dropping a class during the official Drop/Add period at the beginning of a term will result in a review of your aid eligibility for that term. Dropped semester hours do not count toward HOPE eligibility or Satisfactory Academic Progress standards. No grades are posted for dropped hours. However, hours from which you withdraw or are withdrawn will be considered as enrolled and attempted hours for purposes of determining HOPE eligibility and the quantitative portion of the Satisfactory Academic Progress standards (occurring after the Drop/Add period). Withdrawing from a course results in a grade of W or WF which will appear on your official Gordon College academic transcript.
Incomplete Grades
When a grade of incomplete is replaced with a final grade your eligibility for the HOPE Scholarship and/or other aid will be reviewed. This may result in a request for repayment of aid already received and/or cancellation of future aid. Also, please read the Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy for additional information regarding the potential adverse impact of incomplete grades on financial aid eligibility.
Fee Payment & Aid Disbursements
The Gordon College Business Office publishes information regarding your student account, payment deadlines, and aid disbursement. If you pre-register for classes, please note the payment deadlines that are published in the schedule of classes as well as on the Gordon College web site. Failure to pay by the deadline will result in your schedule being cancelled.
If all aid eligibility requirements have been met, aid is disbursed no sooner than 10 days before the semester begins for students who are pre-registered for the required number of hours and have no flags or holds on their records. Refunds are issued to students no sooner than fourteen days from the first day of class.
Outside Sources of Aid
You must report any aid you receive or expect to receive from an outside source to the Gordon College Financial Aid Office regardless of when you receive notification of the award. This includes scholarships, grants, loans, VA education benefits, and assistantships or fee waivers. The receipt of such aid may result in a reduction, cancellation, and/or repayment of your award(s).
Study Abroad
Students regularly enrolled in a degree program who enroll in a Study Abroad program and have completed the proper forms could be eligible for financial aid. Contact the Gordon College Financial Aid Office for additional information on these programs. Since Study Abroad grades are generally not posted by the end of the enrolled semester, your Standards of Academic Progress can be adversely affected resulting in loss of financial aid eligibility until the Registrar receives the grades and we are able to reconsider your Academic Progress.
Employee Tuition Remission
Amounts received under the Board of Regents' Employee Tuition Remission and Reimbursement Policy are considered when determining aid eligibility and can result in the reduction of student financial aid already awarded.
Fee Waivers
If you receive an in-state and/or an out-of-state fee waiver after a semester begins, you may be required to repay aid already disbursed in order to reduce or eliminate an overaward. We must consider any fee waiver(s) you receive when determining your eligibility for other types of student financial aid.
Academic Suspension and Financial Aid Eligibility
Effective Summer Semester 2007
A student that has been suspended for academic reasons from Gordon College and is not meeting the requirements of the Gordon College Satisfactory Academic Progress policy for financial aid is subject to the following stipulations:
Students must attend school at his or her own expense for the initial semester following readmittance to Gordon, and may appeal their Satisfactory Academic Progress standing for subsequent semester(s) upon completion of the initial semester of enrollment, if necessary. Students who are readmitted for a summer semester will be required to complete at least three hours with a 2.0 overall grade point average, while students who are readmitted for a fall or spring semester will be required to complete at least six hours with an overall grade point average of 2.0. Students will not be allowed to withdraw from any classes during the initial semester of enrollment in order to complete said semester. Students who do not fulfill said requirements will not be allowed to appeal their financial aid standing for a subsequent semester.
Satisfactory Academic Progress
Students are required by federal regulations to maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) to qualify for and remain eligible for financial aid. Satisfactory Academic Progress is measured by both qualitative and quantitative standards. These standards apply to students attending Gordon College and do not necessarily affect aid eligibility at other institutions. The SAP standards at Gordon College are as follows:
Qualitative
Students are expected to maintain satisfactory academic standards as described in the Gordon College Academic Catalog. This standard is measured at the end of each semester. Students who are placed on academic or learning support suspension for a term during which they received financial aid will not be eligible to receive aid until they have reestablished eligibility for such aid. Students failing to maintain satisfactory academic progress because of qualitative measures and who are not placed on academic or learning support suspension, will have the right to appeal his or her standing if they so choose. The qualitative standards of measure are outlined below:
To remain in good academic standing, students are required to maintain an acceptable cumulative grade point average. The minimum acceptable cumulative grade point average (GPA) is based on the number of semester hours attempted. This standard will be reviewed at the end of each semester. For the purposes of this policy, the following measures are used:
| Total Hours Attempted | Minimum Cumulative GPA |
|---|---|
| 1-15 | 1.40 |
| 16-30 | 1.60 |
| 31-45 | 1.80 |
| 46-59 | 1.90 |
| 60 | 2.00 |
Quantitative
Students must complete their degree within a maximum time frame by completing a minimum percentage of attempted hours during the course of study.
At Gordon College, the maximum time frame allowed is 150% of the number of semester hours required to earn the degree. For example, a student who is required to earn 64 semester hours in order to be awarded a degree may not receive financial aid after attempting 96 semester credit hours at Gordon College.
Each semester, students must also successfully complete 67% of their cumulative attempted hours to remain eligible for financial aid. Withdrawal grades are not considered successful completion. Students failing to complete the required number of courses their first semester will be placed on probation and remain eligible to receive financial aid in the next semester in which they attend and have remaining financial aid funds. A student whose initial probationary period is summer semester may use the subsequent fall semester as his or her probationary period if they have no financial aid eligibility remaining for said summer semester. Those students who do not successfully complete 67% of their cumulative courses in subsequent semesters following this probationary period will have their financial aid terminated. However, students may regain their eligibility by following the policy for reestablishing eligibility for financial aid. This policy is available in the Gordon College Financial Aid Office.
The measure for this standard is outlined below:
| Student Classification | Start | End | %Earned Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular Student | 0 | 96 | 67% |
| Nursing | 0 | 102 | 67% |
As previously stated, the first semester in which a student fails to make satisfactory academic progress in either the quantitative or qualitative measure (or both) will result in the student being placed on SAP probation. Students will be notified of this status upon completion of the review that places them on SAP probation. This means that the student will remain eligible to receive financial aid for that semester as long as they financial aid funds available for use in said semester. If a student has no funds available for use in the initial probationary period, he or she may use the subsequent semester in which they enroll and have available financial aid funds as his or her probationary period. However, if the student fails to meet the appropriate standard(s) at the end of that semester (in which they have available financial aid funds and are enrolled), the student will become ineligible for any financial aid funds at Gordon College until he or she has regained their eligibility according to the policy for reestablishing eligibility for financial aid.
Please review the following information as it relates to the Gordon College SAP policy:
- Withdrawal hours are counted in the quantitative measure.
- All learning support hours are included in the calculation.
- Grades of “incomplete” are counted in the quantitative measure. This includes learning support hours.
- Repeated classes count as any other class in both the qualitative and quantitative measure. Repeated classes do not replace any previously attempted classes.
- All transfer hours that are accepted for credit toward the intended degree at Gordon College are counted in both the quantitative and qualitative measures.
- Noncredit remedial courses, if offered, are not included in this calculation.
- If a student chooses to pursue a second degree, all courses that apply to the second degree will be counted in the calculation as it relates to the second degree.